


Lab Rats

by ALittleBitofThis



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Avengers AU, Avengers Family, Domestic Avengers, Human Experimentation, Iron Dad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-23
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2019-09-25 03:08:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17113298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ALittleBitofThis/pseuds/ALittleBitofThis
Summary: When the Avengers raid a Hydra compound, they find more than just Hydra agents waiting for them. Now they've got three traumatized teenagers with powers they can't control. The Avengers can handle them... right?An alternate universe where the Avengers find Peter, Michelle, and Ned, who have been kidnapped and experimented on by Hydra. They take them back to the Avengers compound "just for a little while", but soon find their hands more full than they expected. And they might just "accidentally" adopt these kids. Inspired by a prompt from shaiwestonshipstyrus on tumblr.





	1. A Shocking Discovery

“Clear,” Black Widow announces as the last hydra agent hits the ground. “Let’s get whatever we need and get out of here. Bruce?”

 _“Working on it,”_  Bruce responds. He’s sitting on the Quinjet a safe distance away from the compound. He parses through all the security cameras and encrypted files, seeing if anything looks important. He and Friday are cross-referencing, and he clicks on a weird file name. “What the… Tony?”

“Banner?” Tony responds. He finishes securing some unconscious agents, and the location appears on his heads-up display.

_“There’s something on that floor, but it’s ridiculously encrypted. Friday predicts it’ll take another little while to decrypt. It locked down once we attacked. Can you check it out manually?”_

“On it. Romanoff? Rogers?” Iron Man motions for them to follow. The door is surprisingly thick, and it takes longer than usual for Iron Man to burn through.

“They must have quite something behind the door,” Black Widow muses. Tony finally gives up and just blasts the doors off the hinges.

“What the-“ Tony’s jaw drops, and he demasks immediately, wanting to see this with his own eyes.

“More supersoldiers?” Steve asks, hurrying to the cells. Natasha tenses as she looks at them.

“They’re just  _kids_ , Steve,” Natasha whispers, putting a hand on his arm. And they’re awake, watching confusedly. There’s 3 of them, all in different cells, and it looks like there’s 8 cells in total. Hydra must have been doing  _something_.

Tony’s already tapping away at the control panel, trying to find the security controls. With a buzz, the cells unlock, and the power inhibitors switch off, although Tony isn’t sure why they’ve got them in the first place.

Tony enters the closest cell to him, and the kid immediately scrambles up from his cot and away from Tony, his back hitting the wall. “Whoa, Whoa there, kid. We’re not gonna hurt you.” Tony splays his hands in front of him. The thin teenager stares at him from under a mop of messy brown curls, and he looks so, so terrified.

Natasha takes on the next one, a teenage girl, maybe the same age. She has dark skin and curly hair, but she doesn’t retract like the first one does. She’s on her feet, but she’s just staring at Natasha as if trying to understand her.

The last cell has another boy, this one more tan and shy. His bed isn’t metal like the others. It looks more like PVC. Rogers places his shield on his back. “We’re gonna get you out of here.”

“What is it?” Clint asks, keeping watch on the Hydra agents.

“There’s a few kids here,” Tony explains. He takes another step towards his kid, but he flinches. “What’s your name, kiddo?” The teenager frowns worriedly, and he opens his mouth.

“Michelle?!” He cries, and Tony only doesn’t think it’s his name because of the questioning voice. The girl’s eyes flicker to her right when she hears it, and she bites her lip, still looking right into Natasha, almost through her.

“We can trust them,” She says, just loud enough for everyone to hear. The boy in front of Tony sags a little.

“Peter,” He says meekly, and Tony points to himself.

“Tony. I’m gonna help you,” He beckons Peter closer, and the kid starts to move, but his hand doesn’t leave the wall. He frowns, and it takes a moment for his hand to detach from the wall as if something was holding it there.

“You’re Michelle?” Natasha asks the girl. She nods.

“And you?” Steve looks at the last boy expectantly, and he dips his head.

“I’m Ned.”

“Okay, Ned,” Steve says, closing the distance between them. “Let’s get you out of here.” He reaches for his shoulder, intending to both reassure Ned and guide him out.

“Wait, wait, wait!” Ned tries to dodge away, but he isn’t fast enough. “Don’t touch-“ The second Steve makes contact with his shoulder, a shock runs through him, and he flies backwards, slamming into the lab wall.

“Steve!” Natasha runs to him. He’s groaning, but he’s working on getting back to his hands and knees. Black Widow drops to her knees, setting a hand on his back. The rest of the group runs after her, surrounding the stunned super-soldier.

“I didn’t mean it!” Ned yelps, and tears escape as he backs away from them.

“He’s telling the truth,” Michelle defends, turning to face Tony. “It was an accident.”

Tony gives Michelle a concerned look, and when he glances over his shoulder to check on Peter, he sees that the kid’s shrunken in on himself, averting his gaze.

“I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. Please!” Ned shakes his head.

“I’m okay,” Steve assures Natasha. He brushes her arm away, but it just comes back to help him up. “He just packs a punch.”

“He’s-he’s electric,” Michelle tries to explain for all of them. “He can’t control it. Don’t…” She trails off as Iron Man steps forward, approaching Ned. Ned flinches as if he expects to be hit.

“I’m so sorry, sir,” Ned cries.

“It’s okay. Just stay still for a moment,” Tony promises. He reaches a hand out, keeping his palm down and moving slowly. Ned tenses but stays stock still, too afraid of disobeying.

“B-but I’ll shock you.”

“The suit can channel it. It’s okay.” An earpiece rematerializes around his ear, and when he touches Ned’s shoulder, nothing bad happens.

“Friday?”

“He has an extreme negative charge. The shock from contact can be up to 500 volts with varying currents,” She reports.

“Okay,” Tony nods, letting go of him. “Just don’t touch anyone, alright? We’re going to bring you to the Quinjet.”

“All of us?” Peter asks. Natasha and Steve share a glance, but no one objects to Tony’s statement.

“Yes. If that’s okay,” Tony says. Both boys look to Michelle again, and she nods. Then they all look at the Avengers, as if something has changed. Natasha furrows her brow. Why does she seem to be the one in charge?

“Come on,” Natasha says gently. She starts to extend a guiding hand to Michelle’s back, but she stops herself. “Wait, will you shock me too?”

“No,” Michelle shakes her head. Natasha lays the hand on her back, and Michelle seems to lean into it as they walk. Tony leads them back to the ground level, but the kids are all silent, keeping their heads down submissively. It reminds Steve too much of super soldiers, and it makes him sick, so he takes up the rear, making sure none of them try to run off.

When they round the corner, Peter sees Clint and panics, backpedaling into Michelle. She catches him, and they look at one other in surprise before quickly splitting up. That’s the first time any of them have touched each other.

“He’s okay,” Michelle whispers. “I’ll let you know if anything’s wrong.” Natasha pulls her hand away from Michelle’s back, noting that Peter is definitely the shyest of the group. Peter feels Clint looking at the three of them, but he says nothing. Government agents are arriving now, and Michelle knows they’re curious, but none of the agents try and talk to them, as the Avengers are surrounding them in a way that’s almost protective.

Bruce meets them at the edge of the ramp, and he forces a smile, but Tony sees right through it. Banner knows something they don’t.

“Alright guys, on we go, if that’s okay with you,” Tony gives the kids one more chance to object, and although they’re hesitant to board, they don’t refuse. Michelle walks right up the ramp, and Ned stands at the bottom, unsure of himself.

“The ship is a ground,” Tony says, stopping halfway up the ramp. “Trust me… if this thing can handle Thor, it can handle you.”

Ned nods and cautiously boards. Peter, however, isn’t so easy. He hangs back, but as his friends board, he becomes afraid of getting left behind, and he can feel Steve behind him, waiting. He forces his feet forward, grabbing onto a handle to help himself. He doesn’t let go.

Tony looks up when he hears a small whimper. Peter is staring at the handle with a panicked look on his face. He’s stuck again. He can’t get stuck here. No! No, no, no, no, NO! Peter tries to uncurl his fingers from the handle, but it’s like they’re cemented in. He growls in frustration and lurches his body away from the handle, but all it does is hurt his arm.

“Peter, you okay?” Tony asks. He crosses the distance between them, and Peter panics more. He’s in trouble… he’s going to get in trouble!

“Hey, hey..,” Tony says in a hushed tone, trying to keep the teenager in front of him calm. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m sorry,” Peter whimpers.

“About what? Whatever it is, it’s okay, I promise.”

“When I get nervous, I-I get stuck. I stick to things. I can’t control it!” Peter’s eyes are welling up, and he waits for Tony to hit him. Michelle starts to step forward, but Natasha sets a hand on her forearm to stop her. They need to gain some of their trust.

“That’s okay,” Tony sets a gentle hand on his shoulder. “We’ll just calm down, and it’ll come right off, okay?” Peter nods nervously.

“Okay, just take a few deep breaths with me,” Tony shows him some examples, and the hand on his shoulder moves to rub his back in soothing circles while the other supports his wrist. “When I count to three, we’re going to let go, okay? One… two… three.”

Peter sags in relief when his hand comes free, and Tony ruffles his hair. “There we go, kid. Now come on, let’s get you strapped in.”

Tony guides him to one of the seats, and he takes a couple minutes to make sure all three of them are buckled in. Usually, the team doesn’t bother with it, but they want to set good examples, so Natasha and Bruce sit across from them and put on their seatbelts. Bruce and Steve are already in the cockpit when Tony moves up to them.

“Hey Banner, whatcha got?” Tony asks. Steve wordlessly takes over the flight preparations so Bruce can turn in his chair to face Iron Man.

“On the kids? It’s not good, Tony,” He lowers his voice to make sure no one in the back can hear- just Tony and Steve. “I just skimmed the file, but it looks like Hydra experimented on them- gave them powers. The way the logs spoke about them? It seems like they were treated like animals- like lab rats. They kept mentioning submission and them being ‘under control.’ There were plans to eventually train them for combat.”

Tony frowns, sneaking a glance back to the cabin. None of the three have spoken since boarding, and they won’t look at anything but the ground.

“It’ll probably take a while to undo any conditioning,” Tony whispers. “We’ll have to be careful with it.”

“We?” Bruce asks, eyeing him suspiciously.

“You want to keep them at the compound?” Steve pauses in his work to join the conversation. “Tony, I don’t know if that’s such a-“

“What? You have any better ideas? We can’t just throw them to the wolves. Shield dissolved, and you know damn well that the government won’t treat them any better than Hydra did,” Tony interrupts. He sighs. “I’m not saying it’s a fantastic plan… it’s just all I can think to do for now.”

“That’s a handful, Stark,” Steve says reluctantly. “I want to help them, but I don’t know if we can.”

“I’m sure we can,” Tony rubs at his left arm out of habit. “Look, I can make tech to help them until they learn to control their enhancements themselves. Bruce, you have a lot of experience with bioengineering, and you’ve both grappled with learning to control your abilities. Clint’s good with kids, and he and Natasha can train them.”

“Tony,” Steve tenses. “Don’t force them into being soldiers.”

“I’m not,” Tony says quickly. “It’s just… they obviously don’t know how to control their powers. They need to learn how, or they might hurt someone.” Bruce runs a hand through his hair, thinking. He looks like he’s running through calculations and possible scenarios.

“Bruce?” Steve asks, raising an eyebrow.

“I’m with Tony on this,” Bruce finally says, although he sounds a little dejected. “We should take care of them. At least for now.”

“You think we can do this?” Steve asks, looking up at Tony. The man nods.

“You said it yourself Cap… the safest hands are still our own,” Tony reminds, and Steve scoffs. Why is Tony so good at turning his own words against him? But Steve has to admit, Tony’s right about this. He can feel it.

“Okay, then let’s do it,” Steve agrees, putting his hands on the steering wheel with determination. The plane begins to lift off, and Tony has to steady himself by grabbing the back of Steve’s chair. “We’ll do what we can. Double-check with Natasha and Clint though.”

“Of course.” Tony sends the kids warm smiles as he returns to the main cabin, typing out a message to the team on his Starkpad. It’s going to be a challenge, but he knows these kids are good news. He doesn’t know how- he just knows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I know the title chapter is a pun. Come at me *puts fists up*. I really loved this prompt, so this will be at least a mini-series, if not more.


	2. ...Safe?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team returns to the compound, and the trio begins to settle in. However, they're not out of hot water yet.

The ship sets down, and Bruce sighs, unbuckling. “We’re here.”

The kids exchange glances and then watch the others to see how to undo their seatbelts. The Avengers start collecting their gear, but the trio doesn’t know what to do, so they just stand there awkwardly. Tony clears his throat.

“Natasha and Bruce are going to take you on a quick tour of the compound. If you want, that is. Steve and I have to take care of some stuff, but we’ll all meet in the kitchen in half an hour or so. Are you guys hungry?” Tony asks.

“Yes,” Peter says, a little too quickly. They were barely given enough food, and they look it- Peter in particular. He’s thin as a stick, and his face is gaudy. Clint pats him on the shoulder as he gets off the ship.

“I’ll go whip something up, then,” Clint promises. He wordlessly grabs Natasha’s bag as well, freeing her up to stay with the teenagers.

“Let’s go,” She waves them forward and off the ship. None of them had actually looked outside yet, too focused on the here and now of the situation. There are huge fields of grass on all sides of the compound- more green then they’ve seen in forever. And beyond that? Forest on all sides with just one road out.

The compound itself is white and entire walls consist of floor-to-ceiling windows. It’s a modern design that’s smooth and inviting, and the Avengers logo stands tall and proud. Natasha has to literally snap to get them out of their daze. She’s smiling.

“Nice, isn’t it? Come on,” She leads them off the landing pad into the living room. It’s full of plush couches that look like you could sink into them. Michelle almost flinches when she feels how soft a fur blanket is. _Softness_. Such a rare sensation. She feels the others wandering around, taking in their surroundings. There’s a lot of noise here, but it’s still so much calmer than the lab, and she appreciates it.

“Michelle,” Peter whispers. He’s standing near a hall table, leaning on it casually. It only takes one look to decipher that he’s stuck. Peter smiles nervously at her, and she closes the distance between them.

“Calm down. We’re safe here,” She says it under her breath, too quiet for Natasha, Ned, and Bruce to hear. She places her hand over Peter’s, rubbing the top soothingly. He’s able to get it off after a moment, but his face is red with embarrassment.

“You two coming?” Bruce asks. He’s turning back to look at them, just now noticing that they’ve fallen behind.

“Yeah,” Michelle answers for them, and both of the teenagers start to catch up. Natasha looks back too.

“Boys, try not to touch anything for now, okay?” She chimes. It’s not threatening in any way- not a command like they’re used to. It’s just a simple request.

“Yeah. Right,” Peter forces a smile. They drop the conversation and continue on the tour.

* * *

When they arrive in the kitchen, it takes bundles of self-control not to sprint for the food on the counter. The sizzle of moisture on the stove is mouth-watering. Clint looks up at them as they enter. “Hey guys, I’m almost done.”

“What did you make?” Nat asks, moving over to help him. She doesn’t ask what he needs help with- she just grabs a knife and starts cutting up the chicken. Her and Clint stopped needing verbal communication years ago. Depending on how starved they are, eating too quickly could make the kids sick. They’re definitely not going to refuse them food, but cutting it up should slow them down at least a bit.

“I don’t really know what you guys were fed before, or what your allergies are, so I tried to keep it basic. Just plain chicken and grilled cheese. That work?” Clint directs the question at them. It almost takes Ned off guard that they were asked a question, but he quickly recovers.

“Yes sir,” He nods. Anything is better than the slop they have been living on for years. “Do you want us to do anything?”

“Nah. Just sit down at the kitchen table,” Clint shrugs. “Friday, let everyone else know dinner is ready.”

 _“Right away_ ,” Friday confirms. Peter flinches and looks at the ceiling in confusion. Why is there a PA system here? Are they-

“Friday is artificial intelligence. She’s really nice and super useful. If you ever need anything, all you have to do is ask. You can page me or anyone else too,” Bruce explains. He starts towards the kitchen table, and everyone who isn’t cooking follows. The table is long, and to Ned’s relief, wooden. It’s enough to seat the whole team and then some… some being the young teenagers.

Tony enters the room, and he sits down across from the boys. He’s holding something in his hands. “I whipped some stuff together for you two.”

“What?” Ned cocks his head in confusion.

“Just to help you out until you get a better grip on your… enhancements,” Tony tries to find the right words. He holds out a pair of black gloves to Ned. “These should keep you from accidentally shocking anyone. They’re insulated and also a ground for the energy.”

“T-thanks,” Ned says shyly. He’s still pretty embarrassed and guilty for the whole incident with Steve earlier, so he keeps his eyes down as he puts them on. Next, Tony holds out a watch for Peter.

“This is a smartwatch. If you touch anything and get stuck, it will detect your heartbeat and lead you through some breathing exercises. It can also call me if you need it. That okay?”

“It’s okay,” Peter accepts the watch and slides it on. “Thank you, sir.”

“No problem. These are just temporary fixes, but they should help a least a bit,” Tony nods. He sneaks a glance at Michelle, who’s looking at Peter’s watch curiously. He can’t really help her until he knows what her powers are. He has some ideas on what she can do, but he’s not sure, and he’s not going to push. She seems fine anyway.

The rest of the team settles in at the table, and everyone begins eating. Ned, Peter, and Michelle are practically in heaven. This tastes thousands of times better than anything else they could remember, and it’s a struggle not to eat _all_ the food on the table. They only take what they think they should- an exact fraction of the food as divided by the number of people at the table. None of them think to account for the range of appetites at the table.

“You guys can have a bit more if you’re hungry,” Bruce says when he notices this. Peter almost immediately reaches for another half-sandwich, and the conversation at the rest of the table continues on. The team is trying to keep their conversation simple and open-ended. They don’t want to discuss anything too serious that will scare the kids off or make them think they aren’t allowed to join in. Bruce had texted the group chat earlier, suggesting that they do this to show the kids that they can be comfortable around them. Ned actually asks a couple questions, and Natasha answers him with a proud, encouraging smile.

Peter sits quietly. He listens, but he doesn’t say anything himself. Michelle, however, seems a bit tense. Clint looks at her, but he doesn’t say anything for now. He tries to refocus on the conversation, but it’s died down a little. The table falls silent for a moment.

“Would you _please_ stop it?!” A voice snaps suddenly. All heads turn to Michelle, who’s glaring at everyone fiercely.

“What?” Clint asks.

“If you want to know more about us, ask some damn questions. I know the conversation is ‘neutral’, but I can hear you all sneaking glances at us and wondering. Stop thinking of us like defenseless kicked puppies!” She snarls. It’s quiet for another moment, and she’s gripping the table tightly. Her head is spinning with all the obnoxious chatter.

“You can hear our thoughts,” Natasha says quietly, and it’s more of a statement than a question.

“Unfortunately,” Michelle huffs, averting her gaze. Peter scoots a little closer to her, meaning to be comforting, but she’s sick of the noise and retracts inward. Steve clears his throat.

“Sorry,” Bruce mumbles. No one else tries to address it.

“Uh… anyone up for some dessert?” Steve tries to change the subject. It seems to work.

“That’s a great idea,” Tony says, straightening up a little. “You guys like ice cream?” The boys nod, and Michelle scoffs a little, but she does nod. Tony frowns. He’ll have to figure something out for her.

“Great,” Tony claps his hands together and leaves the room to get some bowls together. Ned reaches around Michelle to tap Peter excitedly.

“Dessert?! Dude,” He says in a hushed whisper. Peter grins back at him with equal enthusiasm. Michelle just rolls her eyes and stirs her chicken around before eating another piece. Natasha hides a smile. It’s fascinating, watching them interact.

“Here we go,” Tony returns balancing six bowls on his arms. He knows by heart who does and doesn’t want it. He says the names as he hands them out.

“Steve… Bruce… Ned…  Michelle… aaannnddd Peter.” He keeps the last one for himself. Clint starts a conversation about favorite ice cream flavors as they eat, but it’s mostly the adults talking, as the teenagers are too bewildered by the treasure of sugar to stop eating until their bowls are scraped clean. Peter’s the only one to speak up, telling them that his favorite is mint chocolate chip.

“ _Sir, there’s a code 17 in sector W2_ ,” Friday says. The Avengers stop talking and exchange glances.

“What?” Peter asks, trying to read their faces. “What does that mean?”

“It’s just a problem with the pool room. The water keeps messing up the air conditioning,” Natasha explains. Michelle looks at her intently, trying to figure out if that’s what it _really_ is, but her mind is clear.

“Yeah. We can go fix it real quick,” Tony says, already on his feet. _His_ mind is just full of schematics. “It’s getting late anyways. Bruce can get you guys a change of clothes and show you your room.”

“Okay,” Ned says, albeit a little hesitantly. The whole feel of the room has changed. Everything is tenser and filled with adrenaline. Maybe this is how things normally are around here. He can’t tell.

“Yeah. I got it,” Bruce confirms, motioning them after him.

“Do we need to clean up?” Peter asks, piling all of his stuff onto one plate.

“We’ll clean up,” Natasha promises. “You get some rest.”

“Okay,” Peter says, backing towards Bruce. The three teenagers follow the doctor out of the room, and he stops at a specific door.

“This is a storeroom. We have some basic changes of clothes in here… just in case anyone ever needs it. The workout room is down the hall, so it comes in handy a lot,” He goes to some boxes, pulling out some clothes. “We can get you some stuff with more variety later, but this is at least better than what you have.”

He motions to their matching outfits. They’re boring, solid gray and have the material of scrubs. It’s not entirely uncomfortable, but they’ve been in those clothes for who knows how long. A change should help them calm down. Bruce makes sure to grab them different clothes from one another. Ned gets black sweatpants and a grey Avengers shirt, Peter gets a blue stark industries shirt with grey sweatpants, and Michelle gets one of Natasha’s comfy white shirts with some black leggings.

“Thank you,” Michelle says, feeling the soft fabric in her fingers. Bruce just smiles and leads them into an elevator. It would usually have windows, but they’re shaded by security blinds at the moment. Not that the kids would know that. He brings them down a hallway and stops in the middle.

“There’s three rooms here. Each one has its own bathroom and bed, so you have plenty of space. You can all shower and change. Let me know if you need anything, okay? Just tell Friday to call me,” Bruce says. The teenagers all exchange glances, gravitating towards whichever doors are closest. Michelle can tell that Bruce wants to leave for some reason, so she says thank you in the trio’s behalf and retreats into her own room. The boys follow suit.

* * *

 Half an hour later, Michelle crawls into her bed. That shower was heavenly. She can’t remember the last time she felt this clean. The bed feels amazing too. It’s a king-sized bed that’s got extremely soft sheets, and she sinks into it when she lays back against the pillows. She closes her eyes, absolutely exhausted.

However, she doesn’t fall asleep. Her head is spinning. Something feels off about whatever that code was. There’s something they’re not saying- not that she’s going to make Peter and Ned aware of it. The three of them have enough anxiety for now. In fact, she can hear their thoughts too. It’s weird being in a new place. They’re more comfortable than they’ve been in months, but this is also the most separated they’ve been. One another’s presence is the one consistency they have, and this feels… wrong.

Twenty minutes later, Michelle can’t take it anymore. She gets up, setting her feet on the cool floor. Her hair is down, and she brushes it behind her shoulders before heading into the hallway. She knocks on Peter’s door, a pillow lodged under one arm. She can hear the shift in his thoughts, and he’s opening the door after only a moment of hurried footfalls.

“Come on,” Michelle says. And that’s all she needs to say, because she _knows_ she understands. “You bringing that blanket?”

“Oh… yeah,” Peter looks down at the comforter he’s holding. It had stuck to him more than he had grabbed it, but they could probably use it. He was too nervous to let go anyway, and Michelle doesn’t seem to mind. They cross the hall to Ned’s room, where she knocks on the door.

“Come in,” Ned calls, and Michelle pushes the door open. Ned’s in bed, but his lamp is on, and he turns his head to look at them when they come in. He scoots to one end of the bed. Michelle and Peter join him on the bed, Michelle in the middle. The two newcomers lay on top of the covers, avoiding accidental shocks from Ned, and Michelle pulls part of Peter’s comforter over herself. Peter steals one of Ned’s pillows, and he helps get Michelle’s pillow behind her.

“Better?” Peter asks quietly. Ned and Michelle hum in agreement. Peter smiles a little, rolling onto his side to face them.

“Friday, lights off please,” Michelle says. The lights dim to nothing, and she pulls the covers up to her neck. This is _much_ better. Sharing a bed may mean less space, but it also means they can feel one another there, and that’s the last thing they need before they all fall asleep.


	3. Baby Steps and Baby Tests

Clint walks down the hall towards the kids’ rooms. The team decided sleep would be best, as the kids are likely deprived of that novelty, but it’s nearly noon. Clint insisted that they had to get up, else they might screw up their sleep schedules. He was prepared for groggy teenagers. What he was not prepared for was to find an empty bed.

“Peter?!” Clint calls. He rushes to the bathroom, but that’s empty too. Oh no. They can’t have lost them. It’s not safe for them out there! He goes to Michelle’s room, and finds it just as empty. He’s about to page the rest of the team when he opens Ned’s door.

“Oh,” He whispers, and as his shoulders melt, so does his heart. The three teenagers are still asleep, and compared to yesterday, they look so… peaceful. Clint quietly walks closer to the bed and sits down next to Peter. The dip in the mattress causes him to stir.

“Wha-“ He slurs. Clint smiles and sets a hand on his shoulder.

“Time to get up, Peter,” He says. Michelle crawls out of sleep as well, her eyes fluttering open as she adjusts to the light and the noise. She makes a tired groaning noise and shifts around. Her hand pulls Peter’s arm away from where it was slung over her waist. Peter sits up now, swinging his legs off the bed so he mirrors Clint.

“Ned!” Peter calls. It’s loud enough to wake him up, but not loud enough to startle him. Ned shrugs.

“‘M awake,” He confirms. Clint gives them a warm smile.

“Good morning,” Clint stands up again, pulling Peter with him. “You guys want brunch?”

“Yeah,” Peter says with a drowsy smile. He’s always hungry. He strides to the doorway, but he has to wait for Ned and MJ, who are moving considerably slower in their morning grogginess. Ned grabs his gloves, and they head back to the kitchen.

Peter’s barely walked into the room when Tony shoves a cup into his hand. It’s a magenta-colored slushy thing, and he eyes it suspiciously.

“It’s a smoothie,” Tony explains. He taps his face lightly. “Drink up.” He hands similar smoothies to the others as he makes peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the whole team. (That’s all he knows how to make, really). The smoothies he made have dozens of nutrients and vitamins in them, but the taste should be hidden by the fruitiness. There’s also protein powder and extra sugar in them. He’s going to get these kids back to a healthy weight, no matter what it takes.

Ned and Peter sit down on the long table’s bench, backs leaned up against the tabletop. Michele comes over too, but she’s a bit slower, surveying the room and seeing what everyone is thinking. There’s at least some degree of anxiety coming from Tony, but she can’t figure out what quite yet.

Peter cautiously takes a sip of his smoothie, and he’s relieved to find that it actually does taste good. It’s so sugary and sweet. He slurps and looks around embarrassedly before trying to quiet down. Michelle just rolls her eyes.

“Enjoying that?” Ned asks, and Peter sends him a playful glare for bringing it to the spotlight.

“I’m hungry,” Peter excuses. It’s not a lie. He’s starving. He can’t remember when he last  _ wasn’t _ hungry. Tony moves over and sets down a pile of sandwiches in front of the three, and they swing around to sit facing the table. Tony is across from them with Dr.Banner, the man who got them the clothes last night. Clint is still in the kitchen area, making himself some sort of healthy food concoction.

“You guys sleep okay?” Tony asks. Peter shrugs.

“Eventually, yeah,” Ned answers for them. Tony nods slowly.

“Okay, well, let me know if we can do anything to help you sleep even better. If you’re having any nightmares..,” Tony trails off. He always wished he had someone to talk to after New York. “You can always talk to me about them.”

“We’ll keep it in mind,” Michelle says, sensing the uncertainty and turmoil around Tony’s answer. She sees him standing over a shattered suit, Pepper staring at him in horror, and then when Peter reaches forward for a sandwich, it’s gone. The rest of the group follows suit. Some while after they’ve been eating, Bruce clears his throat.

“There’s something we need to talk to you about,” Bruce admits. Michelle’s head pops up and she tries to read him, but he seems like he’s remembering old things, not things that involve them.

“What?” Peter asks, shifting nervously.

“Well, for starters, I myself am also a… uh… production of science,” He grapples for the right words. “A radiation incident caused me to have a feral other half. When I got mad, I turned into a big green monster. It took years to understand how to control myself- and Hulk- so I want you guys to know that we understand. Part of learning to control it was understanding my own biology. Sciences can help, when used right.

"Why are gonna telling us this?” Michele asks.

“Because I don’t want you to freak out,” Bruce explains. “So I want to be absolutely clear that you have the power to say no, okay?” He nudges Tony, wanting the other man to help with this discussion too. Tony frowns.

“We want to help you, but we need to understand your powers first. If it’s alright with you- and it’s okay if it isn’t-, we’d like to run a couple of tests,” Tony says, his hands out to keep the impending explosion at bay. It’s not very much of a blast. Peter flinches at the words, but he doesn’t say anything. His mind says more, flooding with images of all the terrible things Hydra did to him and he can’t- he doesn’t know if he can handle-

Michelle puts a hand on his back, out of view of the adults. She rubs it in small circles, trying to help him calm down.  _ ‘Relax… breathe…’ _ She thinks at him, and he does so.

“I don’t want to hurt anyone,” Ned says, and Tony waves his hand dismissively.

“You won’t hurt anyone. We’ll be really careful,” Tony promises. He looks at Peter, who is visibly tense with his wide eyes and messy hair. “We won’t make you do anything you don’t want… I promise.”

“We’ll work with you,” Michelle answers, still working on calming Peter. He’s scared, but she knows he can take it.

“Okay,” Peter says, but his voice is meek and quiet. Tony gets up, startling them.

“Let’s go to the lab,” Tony says, beckoning them with his hand.

“Oh, okay,” Peter says, getting up a little too quickly.

“I didn’t know you meant  _ now _ ,” Ned says, getting up with everyone else. Bruce holds a hand out, palm splayed.

“We don’t need to rush it, if you aren’t ready..,” Bruce starts.

“We’re good,” Peter says, and his hands are sticking together, but no one would notice unless he said anything. They all squeeze into the elevator to the lab, and Tony and Bruce go to collect some things. Ned sits in a chair, and Michelle sits on an empty table, but Peter just stands in the middle of the room, as far away from everything as possible.

“Pete, come over here,” Ned says, patting the chair next to him. Peter hesitates, but sits beside his friend, who puts a supportive gloved hand on his shoulder.

“Do you think we’re good?” Ned asks Michelle.

“Yeah, I think so. Something-“ She looks at them and thinks better of mentioning the weird feelings she’s been catching all morning. “Something about them says we can trust them.” She lies. She doesn’t really know what it is, but they’re intentionally hiding  _ something _ from them.

* * *

“Peter, I’m just gonna draw a bit of blood from the crook of your arm, Okay?” Bruce reaches for Peter’s arm, but the teenager quickly leans away and out of grasp. Bruce pauses, waiting to see if he’ll come back. He doesn’t. Bruce frowns.

“It’s just a little prick,” Bruce says, reaching for him again. Peter still avoids him, scooting further down the table. Tony uncrosses his arms and steps forward.

“Just focus on me, Peter. You won’t even feel it,” He puts a hand on the side of the boy’s cheek. Peter leans into it. “Close your eyes.” His eyes slip shut.

However, when Peter feels Bruce gently grabbing his arm, he flinches and pulls it out of his grasp. Bruce sighs and looks to Tony for help.

“It’s just a prick, Peter,” Tony urges. “It’s to help you.” Peter just shakes his head, thinking of all the needles he’s seen before. Michelle can feel it as he flashes back to Hydra and all  _ their _ needles. The needles that were jammed into him without consent as the boy was pinned down by a dozen doctors. The needles that drew blood or injected serums to see their effect on the lab rat that he was…  _ is _ . He’s a lab rat even now. He opens his eyes and starts to retract completely.

“No, I-I don’t want to-“

“Damn it, Peter,” Tony huffs, his short patience beginning to betray him. “We’re trying to help you.”

Bruce opens his mouth to say something, but he closes it. Michelle knows that he’s worried about Tony losing his cool.

“No,” Peter protests, shaking his head. His face is red with embarrassment. Ned and Michelle already got their blood drawn and they were fine. They did fine. “I don’t like needles.” Tony’s jaw sets.

“God damn it, kid! I had a bunch of shrapnel in my chest for years, and the only thing that freaking kept me alive was a hunk of magnetic metal. You can take one goddamn needle,” Tony’s voice is exasperated, and he’s trying to keep the annoyance out of it. Peter looks up at him, looking him over. He wonders if that’s true.

“You had shrapnel in your chest?”

“ _ Yes _ . A bomb went off that should’ve killed me but it didn’t,” Tony scoffs. His persona is calm, but Michelle sees the dejected pain in his mind as he looks down at his shredded bullet-but-not-bomb-proof vest. Meanwhile, Peter looks at him in wonder. This man has suffered too. He’s had bad things done to him too. He’s had to deal with metal in places he didn’t want it. He stares into Tony’s eyes so deep that Tony has to resist the urge to step back as Peter tries to read him. Peter’s so enthralled in this new information that he doesn’t even notice Bruce sliding the needle into his arm. He thinks it’s just a pinch in his elbow, and he doesn’t want to look away from Tony to check.

Tony can see Bruce drawing blood out of the corner of his eye, and he keeps the kid’s focus. “It was called an arc reactor. It kept the shrapnel from going too deep into my chest and killing me. I had to do a lot of development on it. The reactor itself almost killed me with palladium poisoning. But it’s okay. Metal can be good and healthy sometimes. It may be gone now, but I’m only here because I had my arc reactor. Bad things happen, but science doesn’t have to make things worse, Peter. Do you understand?”

“Mhmm,” Peter hums quietly, although his thoughts buzz and reverberate around the room. He wonders how Tony got so hurt in the first place, but he’s afraid to ask. That little glimmer of fear brings him back to the present, just in time to see Bruce taking the needle  _ out _ of his arm. He glances at Dr.Banner in surprise.

“See? Not so bad,” Bruce gives him a smile and presses a folded piece of gauze to his inner elbow before securing it with tape. “We’re all done for now.”

“Why don’t you guys go downstairs? Watch some movies or something? It’ll calm your nerves,” Tony suggests, and Peter doesn’t have much will at this point, so he nods his head and grabs Ned to leave.

“Michelle? A word?” Bruce speaks up. Michelle pauses in following them, and the teenagers exchange glances.

“Sure. I’ll be fine,” She directs the second part towards Peter and Ned. “Go pick out a movie and I’ll be right there.”

Once the others have left, Michelle turns to Bruce and Tony, ready to field any questions they ask- and she knows there a lot that they want to ask.

“Peter seems a bit more retracted than you and Ned,” Tony rubs his chin. “Do you know what’s up with that? You don’t have to tell us. We’re just trying to help. Unfortunately, both Bruce and I have experience fighting inner demons.” Michelle can feel that it’s true. She can pick up bits of the turmoil in their thoughts, but they’re mostly focused on the trio, so she doesn’t see much.

“Well, with me, they just wanted to see how well I could read minds. They were trying to see if I could control minds. I… uh… I tried, but whenever I failed, I was punished,” Michelle ducks her head. “Ned… he’s really just got this electricity power, so they mostly either shocked him or had him shock things. They tested battery acids on him, but that’s as bad as it got. He’s mostly guilty over what they made him do. They made him kill lab animals just to see how much power it took.”

“But Peter?” Tony presses.

“Yeah… things were… different, for him. Along with the Spider-Powers came other superpowers, and Hydra… well, they were  _ really _ interested in that. Something to do with super-soldiers in the past,” Michelle explains, and the glance that Tony and Bruce share tells her that they know what she’s talking about.

“They came down hard on him, seeing how well he took poisons and diseases, hence his reluctance to needles. They… they would hurt him just to see how long it took for him to heal. Made him see how long he could stay awake. Strength tests resulted in broken bones a lot. It was hard for all of us. Really, it was. I’m not going to say we didn’t go through hell either. Ned and I have our own traumas. But Peter… they favored Peter in a way that resulted in him being hurt a lot more often. That’s why he’s so wary. He struggles to trust scientist-types.”

“So if we come off as less sciencey...?” Bruce asks, and Michelle nods.

“You should make some better progress with him. But… please.” Michelle looks Tony straight in the eye. “Don’t think of us as projects or problems to be solved. We’re people too, Tony.” She nods and heads out after her friends. Tony blinks. He hadn’t really even realized he was thinking of the kids like that until Michelle vocalized it, b ut that _was_ how he was coping, if he was honest with himself. Once Michelle was gone and safely out of telepathic range, he turns to Bruce.

“She’s smart. She can see right through us,” Tony wants. “We need to be careful. If we so much as think about it, they’re going to find out. They don’t need that stress right now.”

“I know,” Bruce sighs. He takes off his glasses to rub his face tiredly. “But we’ll keep them safe. We gave them our word. Whatever it takes.”

* * *

Michelle gets to the living room, where Peter and Ned are scrolling through Netflix, trying to find what movies they’ve missed. They’re sitting on the main, plushy couch, and she grabs one of the extremely soft fur blankets before joining them. It’s  _ so _ soft, and as she wraps it around her, she wishes she could just bundle up and hide forever.

“Whoa, Whoa! Go back up a bit,” Ned cries out, and Peter scrolls up obediently. “Is that Star Wars… VIII? 8?! Dude!”

“What about 7 though? I remember them talking about VII but we never saw it,” Peter reminds. He goes to the search function, but only 8 is coming up. He groans in frustration.

“You’re gonna need to rent it,” Clint says, startling Ned. Peter and Michelle had already heard him enter in their respective ways. “Here. Gimme.”

Clint takes the remote from Peter and pulls up Amazon, renting the movie for them.

“You don’t have to spend the money, sir,” Peter protests.

“Stark is a billionaire. His sneezes are more expensive than this. I bet he could introduce you to Mark Hamill with a phone call,” Clint chuckles. “You guys want popcorn?”

“Yeah,” Peter answers easily. Clint eyes him.

“You seem always hungry, kid. You think you might have an accelerated metabolism like Cap?” Clint asks. Peter shrugs. “I’m gonna grab one of the high-calorie bars that Tony makes for Steve. If you feel like you wanna explode after you eat it, we can assume the answer is no.”

The movie starts, and half an hour later, they’ve already burned through all their snacks. Peter’s forgotten how it feels to not be hungry, and his body feels like bliss. He tilts sideways, laying across the couch, and his head lands on the edge of Michelle’s blanket. “Mmm. Soft.”

“I know. Mine,” Michelle responds. Peter just hums and snuggles into the blanket, earning a scoff and “weirdo” from Michelle. He looks up at her for a brief moment before nestling his head back in the excess blanket. She knows that he’s thinking about someone running fingers through his hair, and she does so gently, just once. Only until Ned looks over and she feels a pang of guilt. Here she and Peter are so close to each other, and Ned’s afraid to touch anyone for fear of killing them. None of them know for sure the last time he had a hug.

“You’ll get the hang of it soon, Ned,” Michelle assures. Ned shrugs and keeps his eyes on the movie. Peter looks between them, but he doesn’t really understand what they mean, so he just watches the little droid roll around. How does the head stay on? Some sort of gyro sphere with an electromagnet? He wonders if he can make his own BB8. There’s plenty of materials in the lab, and he doesn't think Tony would mind...


	4. Three Prongs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kids begin to cope in different ways.

Peter bites down on his lip to avoid crying out as he wakes up, and it’s hard enough to draw blood. He curls up under the blankets, but they feel hot and heavy and suffocating. Peter gets out of bed and glances back at Ned and Michelle, both still sound asleep. He can taste the blood in his mouth, and he’s grown to  _ hate _ that taste. He needs something to eat or drink. Anything to get rid of the taste.

He looks at the door. He hasn’t really gone anywhere alone in a long time. At least, not more than a room or so away from Ned and Michelle, but he doesn’t want to wake them up. He’s scared anyway, so he might as well be a little more scared. Peter quietly slips into the hallway and feels along the wall until he finds the kitchen. The lights turn on to dim as he enters, and Peter looks in the pantry. He finds a pack of Oreos on the top shelf, and it’s a bit high, but he sticks to the doorframe and jumps up to get it. He’s just shut the door when he hears footsteps behind him. Peter’s heart lurches, and he scrambles to hide behind the counter, leaving the Oreos on the counter as he leans against the cabinet below.

“Peter?” Tony calls out softly, coming into the kitchen. Tony stops, looking around. Natasha insists that the kitchen be consistently clean when not in use, so the Oreos on the counter are a red flag. Peter must be around somewhere.

“Friday said you were awake,” Tony says, keeping his voice low so he doesn’t startle the kid, wherever he is. Peter hears footsteps coming closer to the island, and he bites down on his fist to avoid any kind of noise, pressing himself harder into the cabinets. There’s a rustle as Tony picks up the box of Oreos. He’s on the opposite side of the island as Peter.

“It’s okay to get a snack, Peter. You can come out,” Tony says. There are only so many hiding spots in a compound that’s furnished in a modern style, and he prefers to have Peter reveal himself instead of scaring the crap out of the kid himself. “I’m not mad. You’re not in trouble. Come on..,”

Peter carefully stands up from the counter, flinching when he sees Tony so close to him. Tony peels back the wrapper of the oreo box and sets it back down on the counter, sliding it toward Peter. Peter carefully grabs one, watching Tony the whole time to make sure it’s okay. Tony waits until he’s taken a bite to speak again.

“Trouble sleeping?” Tony asks. Peter pales and pulls the cookie away from his mouth.

“I’m so sorry, sir. I didn’t mean to wake you,” Peter apologizes.

“It’s ok. I wasn’t sleeping- been in the lab. I don’t always sleep well either,” Tony says, and he grabs an Oreo too, showing the teenager that it’s okay to eat. “You having nightmares?”

“I- it’s not a bother, sir. I promise,” Peter stammers. “I don’t- I can sleep okay.”

“So you are?” Tony concludes. “Figures. I would too.” Peter shrugs and grabs another Oreo.

“I don’t want to bother anyone,” Peter says.

“Do you want to try and go back to sleep?” Tony asks. Peter thinks for a moment and shakes his head.

“No, sir.”

“No need for ‘sir’, kid,” Tony sighs. “Why don’t you come up to the lab? You can sit with me while I work, and then you can go back to sleep when you feel up to it. Or down for it, I suppose.”

“I don’t want to distract you,” Peter mumbles.

“You won’t,” Tony takes a couple steps toward the door and then waits for Peter to follow. “Come on. Only if you want, though.” Peter follows quietly after him.

* * *

Peter wakes up and the first thing his cheek feels is cold metal. His bed with Hydra is metal. He bursts up, knocking his stool over in his haste to get away from the vile thing. The blanket that had materialized around his shoulders slips to the ground, and Peter trips on it, stumbling backwards.

“Whoa, whoa! Kid!” Tony gets up from his table in time to see Peter falling, and he catches the teenager before he hits the ground. “What happened?!”

“I- you-” Peter can’t get any words out as he stares at the table. He’s in the lab. Not the Hydra lab. The Avengers’ one. It doesn’t stop his mind from reeling and his heart beating like a freight train. Tony is still holding him as he gets his feet back under him. He tries to breathe, but it’s hard, and it feels like the lump in his throat is suffocating him. He sucks in a greedy breath, leaning against Mr.Stark for support. Tony knows the look on Peter’s face, and he tries to think of all the stuff he’d seen in google searches.

“Hey, it’s okay. Peter, you’re safe. It’s okay,” Tony says, trying to keep the awkwardness out of his voice. Peter spins in his grip, instinctively digging his face into Mr.Stark’s chest and clutching onto him for dear life. It takes Tony a moment to react. The billionaire slowly lifts one hand to rub the boy’s back while the other strokes Peter’s hair, sorta like Pepper does with Tony himself. “Shhh. Listen. You’re okay. Listen to my heartbeat.”

“‘M scared,” Peter chokes out, and Tony finds himself clutching the kid a bit tighter.

“It’s okay. I’ve got you. Just breathe with me,” Tony suggests, exaggerating his breathing so that the enhanced human can definitely feel it. It takes a few minutes, but Peter finally starts to calm down. Tony can feel the wetness of tears through his shirt, but he doesn’t push the kid away. He just holds him until Peter pulls away himself.

“Better?” Tony asks. Peter sniffles and wipes his face. He makes a quiet noise of affirmation. Tony doesn’t move, letting Peter decide how much space he does or doesn’t want. After another minute, Tony looks at the wetness on Peter’s own shirt. “Do you think a shower would help?”

“M-maybe,” Peter says. He never got showers when he was with  _ them _ . It should remind him that he’s in a different place now.

“It’s almost time for breakfast. You can stay with me, or you can go shower and wake up the others. I wouldn’t want them to freak if you aren’t there when they wake up,” Tony says, making it sound as much like an option as he can.

“I’ll shower,” Peter decides, and he leaves the room quickly, before he can change his mind. Tony sits back down, watching the door. Unfortunately, it seems like he and Peter might be cut from the same cloth.

* * *

When the trio enters the kitchen, there’s someone new standing at the counter, talking to Tony in a deep, rumbling voice. They fall silent when the kids enter.

“Hey there,” Tony says, forcing a smile. Michelle stops at the door, reading the newcomer. Peter spots their morning smoothies by Tony, and he carefully steps forward, making to go behind Tony so that the newcomer only sees him minimally. Ned makes sure to keep a safe distance and waits at the table for Peter to grab the smoothies.

The newcomer is big and muscular, kind of like the strongmen that would hold the kids down when necessary, but he’s not wearing a Hydra uniform. He doesn’t  _ seem _ like a bad guy, but maybe the Avengers are getting sick of the kids being difficult. Maybe they want to take a firmer hand in helping them. Hydra always said they were helping them. The Avengers don’t seem like they’ll be as bad, but it doesn’t stop Ned from avoiding the newcomer’s gaze and leaning closer to Peter when he gets to the table. Peter’s eyes flicker between Tony and the newcomer, trying to ask Tony if it’s okay. Michelle is the one to break the silence.

“Who is this?” She asks, reading the answer in Tony’s mind before he can say it out loud.

“This is Thor,” Tony says, and his gaze drifts from Michelle to Ned. “He’s the god of thunder. Electricity is kinda his thing, so we thought he might help Ned a bit.”

Ned looks up at the mention of his name, and Thor strides over, giving him a big smile. “Greetings, Ned!”

Thor claps a hand down on Ned’s shoulder, and Ned flinches violently, almost falling off the bench. Peter steps back from the motion and from Thor, watching his hand fearfully. Ned looks up at Thor, ready to apologize for shocking him and to take his punishment for it. Michelle has somehow zipped the short distance between the door and Thor, and she’s grabbing at his wrist with both hands, pulling it away from Ned.

“Don’t touch him!” Michelle snarls. Thor looks between them in surprise, and although the little human girl’s strength has no real effect, he lets go of Ned, taking a step away from the three mortals as Stark gets between them and the god.

“Okay, okay. Thor won’t,” Tony says, holding out his hands to calm everyone down. “Sorry. We’re not off to the best start. I invited Thor to come and stay here for a bit. He can’t really get shocked, so I thought it might be good for him to work with Ned. Is that okay?”

Michelle crosses her arms and shrugs. “Fine, but you don’t have to scare us.”

“I am sorry. I did not mean it,” Thor says. Tony puts his hands down. They probably need to integrate a bit more slowly.

“Friday, will you let the rest of the team know we’re in the kitchen for breakfast?” Tony requests.

“Right away, sir,” Friday answers. Tony tilts his head for Thor to follow him back over toward the counter so the kids can feel safe sitting at the table. Thor picks up on it and follows him. The rest of the Avengers trickle in within the next hour, and the trio relaxes a bit more with the presence of the others, but Michelle still sits quietly, listening.

There are so many thoughts. She’s learning to get used to the noise, and she knows the meals are supposed to be for bonding or whatever, but they really stress Michelle out. There are so many voices to root through and meanings hidden behind meanings inside people’s heads. All of the Avengers have some sort of inner turmoil, and it’s so  _ loud _ . They’re hiding something too, and it’s bothering her that she can’t figure out what that is yet.

Thor seems to slot in with them fine, although his thoughts tend to be of another planet- or at least som eplace on Earth that’s much more fantastical. She rubs at her temples.

“Are you alright?” Natasha asks, sitting across from Michelle. Flickers of ‘super-soldiers’ and Hydra and a man with a metal arm go through the assassin’s head. Everyone keeps thinking of that man with the metal arm, especially Steve. ‘Bucky’ is his name, Michelle thinks. She feels the worry and the fear that comes when the ones who aren’t Steve think of him. They associate those feelings with the kids as well.

“Fine,” Michelle says. Peter worries about her, and he touches her thigh to get her attention. She doesn’t want to worry him more, so she looks at him out of the corner of her eye and turns her head.

“If you want to get outside later, maybe go for a walk, Clint and I could take you,” Natasha offers. Michelle scoffs. Natasha apparently thinks that she and Clint might somehow be better at controlling their thoughts and that she'll catch a break away from the others, but that’s not how it works. No one’s quiet. Ever. And again, there’s that same fear of  _ something _ . Maybe not Bucky, but Natasha doesn’t fully trust them. Michelle wants to see how far that goes.

“That’s a good idea, but I’ll be fine on my own. Unlike others, I don’t need a babysitter,” Michelle answers. Natasha thinks of explosions and gunfire. Does she really think Michelle is going to do that? Michelle can’t read it clearly, but she’s not dumb. She gets up suddenly.

“Where are you going?” Tony asks.

“Out,” Michelle says simply, swinging her leg over the bench. Ned and Peter look at her in alarm, ready to follow. She knows they watch her to see if she thinks they’re safe. They just assume that she can read the room better, even if that’s not exactly true. She waves a hand dismissively. “I just need some space. You two are fine here.”

“I’ll come with you,” Natasha says, getting up too. Michelle gives her a hard look.

“No,” Michelle rejects. Tony and Bruce exchange glances, thinking of danger too. Bruce is thinking of losing control. Michelle wants to hit them. She’s got it under control. Or at least all of the chaos is internal, not external. She won’t hurt anyway. She starts to leave, and Natasha starts to follow. “I said no.”

“It’s not safe to go outside,” Natasha says, and Clint looks at her in alarm. He thinks of a codeword: snake. Michelle swivels her head to stare at him. They’re not invading the Avengers. Why are these people so thick in the skull?!

“Let one of Tony’s suits go with you,” Bruce bursts out before Michelle slips away. “It won’t have any thoughts, but it’ll help keep you safe. Y’know, just in case.”

“What, you think there’s danger?” Michelle asks. “We’re not a danger.” She hears Bruce mentally correct her to  _ ‘in  _ danger’. It just confirms that they are hiding something from the trio.

“Look, it’s a good compromise,” Tony says, trying to salvage the situation.

“Fine,” Michelle grumbles, and she storms out of the room before anyone tries to stop her. Ned glances nervously at Thor, but he doesn’t follow after Michelle. He stands his ground, at least metaphorically.


End file.
